Would you recommend the product? No |
Price you paid?: Not Indicated
| Rating: 0

Pros:

First four ingredients are all named meat products, uses primarily good quality ingredients.

Cons:

The first four ingredients in the food are all named meat products. The first two of these are meat inclusive of water content (about 80%) and once that is removed it is likely that these ingredients would be more accurately placed somewhat further down the ingredient list (ingredients are listed in order of weight). However, since it is followed by two meat meal ingredients, we can have a high level of confidence in the meat content of the food. There are further meat ingredients 14th and 15th on the ingredient list, though this is too far down to make up a substantive portion of the food.

The main grains in the food are barley and brown rice. These are whole grains that are low-allergenic and a good quality source of carbohydrates and additional protein. Further down the ingredient list are oatmeal, white rice and millet, all of which are good quality. Potatoes are a further carbohydrate and protein source. Flaxseed is a good quality source of Omega 6 and Omega 3 essential fatty acids and the food contains a nice range of fruits and vegetables. We would prefer to see the use of whole eggs rather than egg product in the food.

Based on this ingredient list, this food would have been given a 5-star rating, were it not for the inclusion of fish meal that is preserved with Ethoxyquin (confirmed by manufacturer). Ethoxyquin is a chemical preservative banned or heavily regulated in the human food chain as it is believed to be carcinogenic. We cannot recommend the use of any product using ingredients preserved with this chemical.

Editors

Registered: October 2005Posts: 3953

Review Date: Thu August 17, 2006

Would you recommend the product? No |
Price you paid?: Not Indicated
| Rating: 0

Pros:

Cons:

In further correspondence, Diamond Pet Foods has advised that they have now agreed with their supplier that fish meal ingredients will not be preserved with Ethoxyquin, and they anticipate a written guarantee to that effect.

We are considering whether this can give us the confidence to amend our review of this product. However, we would wish to see such a guarantee of the integrity of ingredients on the manufacturer website or product packaging (not just the recently added text that states the manufacturer is not adding chemical preservatives).

Editors

Registered: October 2005Posts: 3953

Review Date: Thu August 17, 2006

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: Not Indicated
| Rating: 0

Pros:

Cons:

As of today, the manufacturer is guaranteeing the use of ethoxyquin-free meat and fish sources in their foods and a statement to that effect has been placed on the front page of their website.

We therefore withdraw the comment above about ethoxyquin being present in this food (although it would apply to foods in the new formulas manufactured before this date).

All ratings now applied to Chicken Soup products are on the basis of use of ethoxyquin-free ingredients in the food. This formula now recieves the 5-star rating that was previously withheld. Users should continue to monitor the manufacturer website in case of future changes.